Sunday, January 8, 2017

Still trimming

This week I didn't do much: just deleted an old level and replaced it with one that accomplishes more, more cleanly

Here's the old level:

The idea here is to creatively use the boost plates to kill the enemies. The switch makes it so you can only clear one enemy at a time. It's within line of effect of the enemies too, when they're not behind their walls. This means that the enemies can sometimes flip the switch themselves. This was all sort of interesting, but not very compelling. It was always a little aggravating that the switch placed in the middle actually obstructed you if you wanted to get from one side of the level to the other without flipping the walls on/off. It was a poor level to use to introduce the concept of switches.

Here's the new level:

Extremely simple and very different from every other level in the game. Each switch opens one of the inward-facing walls. Once both have been hit, you can easily hit each linked goal node. This level closely resembles the level which came before it, which is a strength when trying to introduce a new concept. It also forces the player to utilize the new concept multiple times in quick succession. It's a much better level to use for introducing the concept of switches. Even if it is less exciting.

As always, charging-up noise is by Javier Zumer. Use and modification under this license.